Rail anchor



Patented Oct. 7,1 9 30 ATE Y s '.mm antomime,omm s o mmnrs, omommm mm m1 BAIL; Mierrorsv a AiiplicationJfiled ma 1,4938, sw rm). 274, 1 77J., I

, This invention relates to those devices whichflare adapted topreventthe longitudinal! creepingofrailsf known as rail anchors.

ingmeans, one of said flange-engagingmeans An object of this inventionis to provide a rail anchor having. rail baseflange-engagadaptedtoengage a yertical edge of the rail a flat'or sidesurface. 7

Anotherl object ofthis invention to probase flangjgwhich it isintendedto 1101a with viid'e a rail anchor havinga body member with alaterally disposed loop, a jaw dis posedatoneiend'thereof and presentingedgewiselcontact surfaces to the; rail "base flange which it'is intendedto engageand a vertical "edge-engaging means disposed on the oppo siteend ofthe body memher adapted; to en re 2 is; a top plan tion on arail,"the rail being shown/in section.

Figure 4 illustrates therelati'on. 0f' parts g V A Land the" vertlcaledge serum jawinember 2 before and after'the rail anchor has beenapliedto the rail base flange, the dotted lines illustrating the positionofpartsafter ap-v plioation, r a w v o Fi'js ire illustrated in Figures1 to 4 inclusive; 1'

Referring to the drawingsin whichli'ke; reference charactersdesignatellikep'arts; and

especially to Figures 1 to l inclusive wherein there is disclosed: oneembodlment ofmyinvention, the reference numeral'j I designates v a bodymember adaptedflto extendtransverse- 1y Of" a railbase flange; Thisbodymember is bowedyand preferab ly lateral lytoprovide a spring tension-jr nernbe'r,whioh, when applied in place, will exert a: pressure trans:

anisonietric View of a railanchor embody ng my lnyentl'on. v

is amodification of the'invention' tained resilientand' yielding means;The loop'may-be of any desired shape or for substantiallyrigidjawinember presenting edgewise contact tojthe'railbase flange, be haspper j maimed 611-;

gage the upper surface of the rail'baseflange.

I'pr'eferto makethe aw 4a of the Sa m Ship? as the top ofthe rail baseflange whibhitjis intendedito engage and"holtlgjthough itlis obviousthatit may be inade ofjany' shape or contour. Disposedbeneath the upperjaw4-isa small jaw 5. This jaw5' 'is'spaeed from-the jaw 4- a distanceslightlygreaterf than the thickness of the rail ybase lflangey which itis intended to graspgor' grip, thus providing a slight clearance; epending from the j'aw 2 there isa member 6"which' functions astie-abutting means.

Disposed at the opposite endof the body member 1 lS IELS previouslydescribed, a railfiangeeengaging means which comprises. a vert caledge-engag ng means 3. This ver-H ticali'edge-engaging meansis so.formed that itpresents its flat er side surface 7" incontact with theVertical'edge of'the rail 'base flange which itis intendedto engage:Ifidesi r ed;

this ertical, edge-engaging means may be omitted. The distance betweentheflat sui' provided with a" vertical. depending portion 8 whichfunctions asa tie-abuttingmeans. I-Ibweveg this is not essential"andflnayfhe n face 7 ofthe Verticalf edges-engaging 1neansl3f flangewhiclrit isintendedfto grip:

out, isbowed or curved to provide sur on- In Figuresl and 2 I haveillustrated thebfody posed and; oiisetU -shapedloopaf i various planes;The jaw 5 is lnadeto' normallylie in a plane higher thanthat; occupiedbythebody member 1; The bend13and the engaging; means. 1 In thismodifieafflibn the i downward; thrusts and pressurejin the anchor;.Variousparts of the anchor are disposed of-the rail; the bearingatpoint 11 tendingalso to rock the jaw member2 about an" axis extendinglongitudinally of the rail. The under rail portion of the anchorfunctions as a resilient lever to exert the combination leverage'ortilting pressures above referred to. The fit of thej aw member on therail base is preferably such that the said'resilientleverage doesno'tproduce any substantial tilting about the traiisverseaxis, but thetilting pressure exertedforms a partof the combination gripeflected andadds to the tenacity of its hold on the rail. 5

In applying'the anchorito a rail base flange, the jaw member is slippedover the 'rail'flange which it is intended to hold and forced on by handas far as it Will go. The anchoris then struck. on the arm'12 or bend 13adjacent the jawl2 with as'pike maulbr sledge, whereby the portion l2 isdriven upon thebase flange embraced and the bodymember 1 yields andelongates. Thisoperation is continued until I the verticaledgesengagingmeans 3 clearsthe opposite edge of the-rail base flange and snaps intoposition; The anchor may also be forced to .its applied position bypulling outwardly on the end 30f the anchor until the portion 3 clearstheedge of the rail base whereupon the resiliency ofthebody will causethe portion 3 to snap over the'edge of the railbase into lockingengagement with the vertical edge surface of the rail base.

Due to the construction of when in positionon a rail base flange, itexerts a transverse pressure at9 and 7 an upwardpressure at 5 and 11 anda downward pressure at 4. The transversepressure pro vides an efiectivegrip to hold the jaw end of V the anchor on the rail. The bowedconstruetion of the under vrail portion provides for sufficientresiliency to permitfthe anchor to be easily sprung to its lockedposition on the.

rail and also permits application of the anchor to base flanges ofdifferent base widths.

In the modification illustrated in Figurefi,

the body member is shown curved differently from that illustrated inFiguresl toe. In

this modification the body member lhas dis; posed at the opposite endsthereof a jaw. 2

and a vertical edge-engaging means 3 which are similar to thosedisclosed inmy preferred embodiment. The body member 1, however, differsfrom the body member, 1 in that, when the jaw member isjapplied to thesame base 4 flange as the jaw member shown in Fig.3,

of said jawp'ortion.

this anchor,

the body is curved rearwardly adjacent the jaw member 2 and forwardlyadjacent the flange-engaging means 3 forming a substantially S-shapedloop having the rail flangeengaging means on the opposite side thereof.

Inthis anchor, due to the curvature of the body member 1, the rail baseflange-engaging means 2 and 3 are oifset to each other and disposed indifferent vertical planes. As

in the preferred modification, the j aw 2handpthe armv 11; are disposed*in planes higher than that occupied'by the small jaw 5. The

manner or mode of'application is the same as that employed in applyingthe preferred modification.

Since it is obvious that various modifica: tio'ns may: he made withoutdeparting from Ithe naturefof. the inventioml I do not limit myself tothe exact'and specific details above described except as hereinafterclaimed.

.Iclaim:'-. H 1. A rail anchor comprising a body member bowedlongitudinally 'of the rail, a jaw ,membe'r disposedon oneend of'saidbody member, rail base flange-engaging means disposed on the oppositeend of saidIbody'mem-- her, said rail base flange-engaging meansadaptedto engage with its flat side surface a vertical edgeof said railbase flange, and

said bowedbody being adapted to press upwardlyag'ainst the bottom of therail base at a pointlocated'at one side of the side plane a 2. A r'ailanchor formed'from a flat metal,

plate and comprising a body member, a j aw presenting edgewise .or'cross-section contact with the vertical edge of the rail base flangewhich it'is' adapted to engage disposed on one end of said body member,a rail edge-engaging means disposed on the 'oppositeend of said bodymember, said rail edge-engaging,

means'adapted to engage said rail'edge'with its flat side surface. i

V 3. A rail anchor formed from a flat metal plate and comprising a bowedbody mem vtionco nt a'ct with the vertical edge of the rail posed on oneendofsaid'body member, a rail edge-engaging means disposed on the.opposite endpf said body member, saidrail edgeber, a jaw presentingedgewise or cross-sec- *base flange which it is adapted to engagedisengaging means adapted to engage said rail edge with its flat sidesurface. I

4.. rail anchor' formed from a flat metal plate and comprising aU-shaped body member normally disposed edgewise to the rail base, a' jawpresenting edgewise. or cross-section contact with the vertical edge ofarail basegflange whichit is adapted to engage disposed atone end of saidU-shaped body member, verticaledge-engaging means disposedattheother'end of said U-shaped side surface the vertical edge of a railbase flange. r I

-member and adapted to engage with its flat I maaq a- .1

5. A rail anchor formed from a flat metal plate and comprisin alaterally disposed U-shaped body member, a "jaw presenting edgewise orcross-section contact with the vertical edge of a rail base flange whichitis adapted to engage disposed at one end of said U-shaped body member,vertical edge-engaging means disposed at the other end of said U-sha-pedmember and adapted to engage with-its flat side surface the verticaledge of a rail base flange. 6. A rail anchor formedfrom a flat metal.blank recessed to receive the base portion of and provided with abottom bearing portion adjacent said edge engaging means for bearlingagainst the bottom surface of the rail base,

the said body portion being bowed laterally relative to the side planeof said aw portion to provide resiliency both vertically andtransversely of the rail and the bottom bearing portions at oppositesides of the rail being so disposed with relation to each other R thatthe last mentioned bottom bearing is forced downwardly to a position ofsubstan tial alignment with the first bottom bearing,

in applying the anchor to a rail.

7. A rail anchor formed froma flat metal blank and comprising a'bodyprovided at one end with a jaw portion disposed edgewise to one baseflange of the rail and including a jaw for gripping the top of one baseflange,

and at the other end with means for engag ing the edge portion of theother base flange; the said body portion being bowed laterally relativeto the side plane of said jaw portion and adapted to press upwardlyagainst the bottom of the rail base at a point remote from said jawportion to hold the jaw portion turned about an axis extendinglongitudinally of the rail and in a direction tending to force the innerend of said jaw into tight gripping engagement with the top surface ofthe rail base flange engaged.

8. A rail anchor formed from a flat metal blank and comprising a bodyformed at one end with a jaw portion disposed edgewise to one baseflange of the rail, and at the other end with means for engaging theedge portion of the other base flange; the said body portion being bowedlaterally relativeto the side plane of said jaw portion and adapted topress upwardly against the bottom of the rail base at a point remotefrom the said jaw portion to hold the aw portion turned about an axisextending longitudinally of the rail and to also exert a force on saidjaw portion tending to tilt it about an axis extending transversely ofthe rail base.

2-, A; ra an hor Qmpr sinsabedy p r? @9 termed: a nete di W thjaw re tea ispos d eds wise e e basaflenge Q a h m le. at (t e er d: w th, warse a ee t e e P t er Qfthe baa b se flaasa tolocl; the saidj aw"vportion, in gripping en:

gageineiit. with the rail; thexsaid body portion;being:bowedllaterallyrelativeto said 1 i ar i na nd adapt a b'sares tth ;a

' et ems t t e il; a en i i ee 'aw portion whereby the-upward: press 1Sara he plane of of the against the 1 bottom of the] e l-b'a' rt ,ej eei i hei war i t nd tion formed at one; endtlwith a V j aw portion 'l -Qcamerama x sexts ii n fi ien sol v ng. a p ers-j w r bearns against theupper inclined surface of a rail base,and a lower jaw for engagementwith the bottom surface of the rail base and formed at the other endwith a locking shoulder'adapted, by i a flexing of the body, to beengaged with the edge of the other flange of the rail; the body beingbowed longitudinally of the rail and projecting above the plane of thelower jaw whereby the s-aid'bowed portion exerts presea, i

sure upwardly against the bottom of therail rail portion provided at oneendwith an upa per and lower jaw and at the other end with means forproviding a relatively wide flat bearing engagement with the oppositeedge of the rail base; the intermediate portion of said rail anchorbeing bowed backwardly relative to the direction of creep of the railand projecting upwardly above the plane of the lower jaw so as to exertpressure against the bottom surface of the rail base tending to forcethe inner end of the upper jaw down in tight engagement with the uppersurface of the rail'base andto forcea binding engagement of the lowerjaw with the lower corner portion of the base flange engaged on theopposite end of said body member, said rail base flange engaging meansadapted to engage with its flat side surface alvertical edge of saidrail base, and said body being adapted to press upwardly against thebottom of the rail base at a point located at one side of the side planeof said jaw portion.

13. A rail anchorformed from a flat metal I blank and eoniprising abod yformed at one end with a jaw portion disposed ed ewise to one baseflange of the rail, and at t e other end with means for engaging theedge portion of the other base flange; the body portion being bowedrearwardly adjacent said jaw portion and bowed forwardlyadjacent saidedge portion engaging means and adapted to press. upwardly against thebottom of the rail base.

at a pointrelnote fromsaid'jaw' portion to hold the jawiwportion turnedabout an. axis 7 extending longitudinally of the rail and to also exerta force on said 'jaw portion tending to tilt it"about 'anaxis' extendingtrans- Versely of the rail base.

In testimony whereof, I have aflixed my signature to this'specification.I

" CHARLES BASHEPHERD.

